Apple has sent an email to some developers entitled “Application Improvement Notice” warning that the company will remove from the App Store applications that have not been “updated for a significant period of time.”
As The Verge first reported, developers are complaining on social media about this new policy, as it could be detrimental to indie and game developers. One of them, Twitter user Protopop Games, shared a screenshot of an email sent by Apple:
App Store Improvement Notice
This app has not been updated for a significant period of time and is scheduled to be discontinued after 30 days. No action is required to keep the app available to users who have already downloaded it.
You can keep this app available to new users for discovery and download from the App Store by sending an update for review within 30 days. If no update is sent within 30 days, the application will be removed from sale.
While it may be noted that demanding developers updating their applications from time to time with Apple’s latest APIs can improve the user experience on newer devices, this also causes a lot of controversy, as shown by developer Emilia Laser. Walker. It has removed some of its older games from the App Store:
“Games can exist as completed objects. These free projects are not suitable for updates or live service models, they are finished works of art from years ago.
The Verge notes that Apple’s App Store improvement page shows that the company “implements an ongoing app evaluation process, removes apps that no longer function as intended, doesn’t follow current review guidelines, or is out of date,” although it doesn’t it is clear when the page is updated or what frequency needs to be updated to stay in the App Store.
In recent years, the App Store has come under scrutiny due to antitrust claims from the government and developers. The most famous case is Epic v. Apple and the Netherlands, fining Apple more than $ 50 million for inconsistencies in the dating app.
Apple has not yet provided information about this change and we will update the story after hearing from the company.
I’m sick. Apple just emailed me that they’re removing my free game Motivoto because it’s more than 2 years old.
This is part of their application improvement system.
This is not cool. Console games from 2000 are still available for sale.
This is an unfair barrier for indie developers. pic.twitter.com/7XNcLfiEcR
– Protopop Games (@protopop) April 23, 2022
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